


Dreams of Better Days

by hereforthephilindafics



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles, Trektober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27072562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereforthephilindafics/pseuds/hereforthephilindafics
Summary: After his ordeal with the Borg, Jean Luc can’t sleep.
Relationships: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45
Collections: Trektober 2020





	Dreams of Better Days

**Author's Note:**

> For Trektober 2020
> 
> Day 17: Nightmares.
> 
> Set between 4x01 and 4x02

Beverly’s alpha shift was in a few hours but she wasn’t able to fall asleep. She tried everything; drinking hot chamomile tea, talking to her flowers, reading one of the recent Starfleet Medical journals to bore her to sleep, but she still remained wide awake.

She assumed it was the residual adrenaline from the past few weeks coursing through her veins. Jean Luc’s recovery after his ordeal with the Borg had been slow. Beverly had logged in more surgery hours than during her residency as a medical student when she needed the credits to graduate. 

Her daily logs were the only thing that held memory of what she did once they separated him from the collective. Beverly made sure to enter everything carefully and in detail, but sitting on her couch now, she could barely recall the types of micro surgery performed to remove the implants. Sometimes she still woke from nightmares of not being able to separate Jena Luc from the metal pieces protruding from his pale skin like they were a natural part of him.

Beverly jumped when her call button chirped. She frowned. “Come in.”

Jean Luc stepped in, clad in a navy blue robe and barefoot.

“Jean Luc? Are you all right?” Beverly asked, standing up.

He nodded. “I just can’t sleep.”

She was heading toward her tricorder, but paused and turned to him. “I can’t either.”

Jean Luc took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. Beverly smiled, holding her right hand out. He took it easily, following her to the couch. When they sat, Beverly placed her left hand over their joined ones. He felt slightly warmer than normal, but she didn’t think there was anything medically wrong with him.

“I’m sorry if I bothered you so late—

“Jean Luc, I just told you I couldn’t sleep either.” Beverly frowned. “Why won’t you look at me?”

He raised his head, red eyes looking into hers. “I dreamed I killed you. And then worse, that you were assimilated and then —

“Jean Luc.” Beverly leaned forward, her left hand cupping his cheek. “It was just a dream.”

“They won’t stop.”

Jean Luc‘s face was perfectly still but his voice sounded so small. He was so scared and Beverly felt like the worst doctor in the Alpha Quadrant. Her patient was suffering and she couldn’t cure him. Her friend was suffering and there was nothing she could say or do to make it better.

“Deanna says nightmares are a perfectly normal thing for what you went through. They are a sign you’re processing and moving on.”

She had heard herself say this to him multiple times. Beverly was starting not to believe it herself.

Jean Luc nodded, taking her left hand and bringing it to his mouth. He kissed her palm lightly, as if he were scared he’d hurt her. “I just wish I didn’t have to wake up in a dark room alone, screaming at nothing.”

Beverly realized there was something she could do, and it didn’t require a doctor’s degree. “Come to bed with me.”

He blinked at her. “Pardon me?”

Beverly snorted. “Not like that. Come sleep in my bed. That way if you do have nightmares, I’ll be there when you wake up. It’s always comforting to have someone to hold onto.”

Jean Luc pulled his hand away from her and stood. “I don’t think that’s...proper.”

Beverly raised her eyebrow at him. “Jean Luc, you just walked to my quarters barefoot. What do you think people on this ship will have to say about that?”

She knew she had him when he didn’t reply. Beverly stood slowly, ran her hands up and down his chest. He closed his eyes and sighed again.

“It’s just sleep. I’ve been having nightmares too, you know?”

Jean Luc’s eyes flew open. They darted all over her face. Beverly smiled as she watched a single tear roll down his right cheek. She took his hand and pulled him toward her bedroom.

“I hope you’re not a blanket hog,” she said, rearranging the pillows before getting into bed.

Jean Luc watched her from the foot of the bed a moment longer before rounding it from the other side. Beverly shifted to her right side, feeling the mattress dip under his weight. He slid under the covers with a sigh and shuffled closer to her.

Beverly tried not to think about how the last and only other time she had been in a bed with Jean Luc had been aboard the Stargazer when they lost all power. She had been pregnant and cuddled between Jack and Jean Luc to retain as much body heat as possible.

She gasped when his left hand rested on her hip. He pulled back in the next second and Beverly fought a giggle. She reached back blindly with her left hand and found his, bringing it back to her hip. It rested there, heavy and warm, grounding her, reminding her he was home and he was safe. She saved him. She cured him. The little pieces of metal left from the implants would be gone soon as well.

The hand on her hip slid forward, moving across her belly gently. Jean Luc hummed snd Beverly sighed, burying her face into the pillow as she felt warmth spread through her. Her feet were freezing so she pushed them back and wedged them in between his legs, laughing when he yelped.

Beverly could feel the strong beat of his artificial heart, the steady exhale of his breathing. He blew warm air against her neck each time and she shivered. Jean Luc pulled her closer, his body providing more warmth than the standard issue blankets.

He planted a kiss on the back of her neck. “Sweet dreams, Bev.”

  
  


They were both late for their alpha shifts.


End file.
